Tag-based location tracking/proximity sensing is becoming a common method of tracking devices in stores, warehouses and the like using, for example, BLE™ (Bluetooth™ Low Energy) Tags, Bluetooth™ Smart Tags, iBeacon™ tags and the like. Such tag-location tacking systems usually consist of a location tracking server, tags fixed throughout a physical location, and devices to be tracked, each of which communicates with the tags and the location tracking server using, for example, client software that runs on the devices. Furthermore, the tags are generally fixed on all the locations in the physical space through which the devices will be moving, and the locations are hence generally identified and stored at the location tacking server. To get 1 meter accuracy on a location of device, tags can be fixed every 2 meters within the physical space in a grid layout, and hence, with large spaces, large numbers of tags are deployed.
Once the tags are physically fixed in their respective locations, a mapping between the tags and their locations needs to be created in the location tracking server. Presently, such mapping tends to be manual: i.e., someone physically goes to each tag location, retrieves a tag identifier from each tag at each tag location, determines a location (e.g. using GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates and the like) and enters all this data into the location tracking server. Such methods are time consuming and as the number of tags increase, the time and effort to manually build the mapping (e.g. tag id vs. location) also increases. Furthermore, when a layout of a physical space changes, the mapping process needs to be repeated.
In addition, management and control of such tags can be challenging. For example, when a configuration parameter of a tag needs to be changed (such as a beacon interval, a major number, a minor number, a broadcast power level, and the like), an operator needs to go near the tag and change the desired parameter via a control terminal, such as a mobile device. Such a procedure can be expensive, time consuming and error prone, especially when configuration parameters at a large number of tags are to be changed, which is common when a layout of a physical space changes and/or the locations of the tags change.
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